Chapter 407: Enemy (5k)

As everyone knows, Zhou Yi is not a player particularly fond of cars or watches, and since becoming famous, he has never purchased any luxury cars himself.

Therefore, when Huang Zhan voluntarily stepped forward to announce this news, it somewhat startled the domestic surfing netizens—

"Damn! Old Man Huang is actually playing for real?"

"I thought he was joking, but now he's telling me he isn't?"

"So awesome, giving away a Ferrari directly..."

"..."

In these days, a brand new Ferrari is not cheap; the latest Ferrari F360 basically costs several million upon landing, which is one of the reasons Sun Yanzi would have a "seizure."

Although with her current income she could afford the latest mass-produced Ferrari, she ultimately could not bear to spend that money.

It's too expensive.

"Wait, hold on, how do I not know about this?"

After Sun Yanzi, who was surfing the web, recited a string of comments, Zhou Yi felt somewhat strange.

Shouldn't Huang Zhan have contacted him first before giving away a car?

What about the configuration?

Doesn't a Ferrari require selecting options?

"Because he said it when he was asked during an interview after watching the movie tonight; it hasn't hit the newspapers yet, it's just circulating on the internet first. You know the spread of news on the internet."

Sun Yanzi, talking about the movie "Hero," was obviously also a bit excited: "The premiere of this movie today is said to be very hot, with many people walking into cinemas to watch it. I also plan to find a time to watch it after returning to the Imperial Capital. The production company's slogan is China's first commercial blockbuster."

"Don't spoil it for me; I know you've seen the whole film."

"..."

Hearing Sun Yanzi so excited, Zhou Yi on the other end of the phone opened his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping.

Forget it, better not crush her enthusiasm.

As China's first commercial blockbuster, the plot of "Hero" is so weak that even in 2002 it would be severely criticized by the vast majority of film fans. The fact that it is currently blazing hot with not a single word of criticism is simply because all media outlets were shocked by the various box office performances of "Hero," preventing the mainstream public opinion criticizing "Hero" from fermenting.

In fact, because of the support of the promotional song "Xiang Wang Xing" this time, the first-day box office of "Hero" is far higher than Zhou Yi remembers—

The three-day box office even reached an astonishing 49.8 million, with Guangdong alone contributing over 11 million in box office within three days!

This made all the experts and industry insiders who had made box office predictions for "Hero" drop their jaws in shock!

"Currently, the total number of cinemas in the country is just over a thousand, and the total number of screens is only a bit over eighteen hundred. According to our prior prediction, reaching 35 million in three-day box office would already be considered burning high incense. And judging from the current evaluations online, many people walked into cinemas because of Zhou Yi..."

Zhang Weiping excitedly placed the box office report on the table, and his old partner Zhang Yimou showed a sincere smile of relief on his face when he saw this number.

49.8 million; the box office for just three days has already surpassed the box office of the champion movie of every New Year's period in the past. For him, this is already enough. Breaking the record is a foregone conclusion; the time ahead is just to see how far "Hero" can ultimately surge.

"Zhou Yi's influence is indeed great. With Christmas, New Year's Day, and other holidays coming up, we should have succeeded, Yimou."

Zhang Yimou nodded: "I will personally make the congratulatory call to Zhou Yi. At that time, see if you can add a red envelope for him."

Although they had already recovered their costs by selling various overseas rights before the movie was released, if the local box office performance was poor, it would be hard for him to hold his head up, after all, the significance of this movie is extraordinary.

Spending 7.2 million to create such a grand promotional effect can be called extremely cost-effective.

However, while New Picture, China Film, and other companies were busy opening champagne, online comments about the trashy plot of "Hero" also began to gradually emerge with the passage of time.

The one that sparked a small-scale heated discussion was a post that popped up on Tianya—

"A Bad Movie Produces a Divine Song: This Is My Evaluation of Hero, Wasting Zhou Yi's Promotion."

A user with the registered ID "I Love Eating Rice" detailed the plot weaknesses he noticed after watching "Hero" in this article, directly criticizing the entire movie as having nothing to recommend.

"The acting is exaggerated and the colors are vivid. My evaluation is that watching the official video of Zhou Yi's pure music promotional song is enough; there's no need to go to the cinema to watch..."

Because the critique was sharp, it directly resonated with many people—

"I feel the same way. At first, I thought since Zhou Yi wrote a song for promotion, I should go see what it was about, but later I found out only Zhou Yi's promotional song in the entire movie was good."

"The colors are actually okay, counting as one of the only two merits. Tan Dun failed this time; his pure music isn't as good as Zhou Yi's promotional song."

"Indeed, I didn't feel it at first when I heard Zhou Yi's song, but the more I listen now, the more addicted I get. I didn't realize he actually has quite a bit of talent for pure music..."

"That damn Zhou Yi earned another Ferrari with this song again; where is he?"

"That damn Zhou Yi is probably having a great time in Korea right now, sleeping with Korean celebrities every day in different ways..."

"Really or fake..."

On December 20, five days after "Hero" was released, accompanied by the steadily rising box office, the polarized movie evaluations on the internet also began to gradually affect offline print media, and even drove up the popularity of Zhou Yi, which was the only thing widely recognized by many parties—

Then, Zhou Yi's rumors, which had quieted down for a while after he left the country, were dug up again, and this time, compared to other rumors, it shocked the onlookers even more!

"Zhou Yi Suspected of Dating Female Group Member in Korea"

"Female Group Killer? Former Korean Female Group Members Li Xiaoli and Cheng Youli Suspected of Falling Out Over Zhou Yi!"

"Zhou Yi Suspected of Holding Hands and Dating a Member of the Da Xiang Group Family in Korea?"

"Playing Both Sides? Zhou Yi Meets Privately with Li Yinxin, the Youngest Daughter of Samsung's Leader"

"..."

"Holy crap! Went to Korea once and actually made the Korean female group members fall out?"

"Is that the main point? Shouldn't the main point be the Da Xiang Group and Samsung Group?"

"I haven't seen the world and don't know the Da Xiang Group, but this Samsung... is it the Samsung in Korea that I know of?"

"He dares to hook up with the descendants of a major conglomerate family? No wonder it's him; I didn't misjudge him."

"My aunt's youngest daughter's neighbor is a Korean international student. According to him, Zhou Yi was cursed very badly in Korea, especially after these news came out; many people attacked him, standing entirely on the opposite side of him."

"..."

For domestic netizens, the fact that Zhou Yi is good at hooking up with girls has long been an open secret, but no one ever expected he could even hook up with a woman from the top class in Korea.

Regarding this, most male netizens, contrary to their usual behavior, expressed agreement and even shouted Gao Hu that Zhou Yi did a great job, winning glory for the country.

A small number of truth-seeking netizens specifically traced the source of the reports to verify their authenticity, and after discovering they were just translations of local Korean newspapers, they all gave a thumbs up—

That is truly awesome.

Sleeping with domestic female stars isn't skill; bedding foreign female stars is what makes a real man!

What do you call an international superstar?

"Let me reiterate: I don't know what happened between Li Xiaoli and Cheng Youli. Yes, Miss Cheng Youli and I did have a meal together, but so what?"

Seoul, South Korea.

Zhou Yi, who had just exited the recording studio, was immediately surrounded by reporters, forcing him to proactively debunk the "female group slayer" incident.

Two days prior, on December 18, Korean media broke the story that former girl group member Cheng Youli had spent a full day and night in a hotel with Zhou Yi. Li Xiaoli privately scolded her for having no shame, and their years of sisterhood instantly crumbled. DSP Company urgently denied it, calling it a fabrication.

"Miss Cheng Youli is warm-hearted. Knowing I had just arrived in Seoul, she kindly acted as my tour guide for a few days, showing me around the city's attractions to fulfill her duties as a host, that's all."

"Then may I ask, what was the situation when you entered the hotel together?"

Zhou Yi glanced sideways at this reporter: "After the tour, I was too bored, so I happened to teach her a few Chinese-style poker entertainment methods. Is there a problem with that?"

"... What about the Elephant Group?"

"That is purely fabricated. I was just following along to learn a bit of Korean application. Is there a problem with learning a foreign language?"

"..."

Qian Jiang, who was responsible for his security, couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat—

"May I ask if your contact with Li Yinxin is related to the potential Samsung endorsement deal?"

"No. No comment. Thank you."

By now, the fact that Samsung Mobile had contacted Zhou Yi was no longer a secret in Korea. Li Yinxin's appearance made it hard to say whether it was related to the endorsement, and the outside world viewed this as evidence that Li Yinxin seemed to want to enter the family business.

But in reality, Li Yinxin had merely acted as an intermediary between her brother's team and Zhou Yi himself at the very beginning, chatting with Zhou Yi a couple of times. That was all.

"Samsung's offer has now risen to 1.5 million USD per year, 6 million for four years. Nokia followed suit, adding 500,000, making it 2 million, same term, 8 million for four years."

After getting into the car, Qian Jiang wiped the sweat from his forehead and stated the two most fiercely competing mobile phone endorsement offers. Finishing, he paused his tone and looked at Zhou Yi with an exceptionally strange gaze: "Also, the Elephant Group and the Korean Nongshim Group have both tentatively extended an olive branch to you."

"I understand the Nongshim Group; after all, their most famous product is Shin Ramyun, so asking you to endorse it makes sense, as that product also has a market in our country."

"But this Elephant... their main business is various fermented condiments, like chili paste and the like, and they haven't even entered the domestic market yet. Why are they asking you to endorse them? You didn't actually sleep with their group leader's da—uh, illegitimate daughter, did you?"

"Correction: that's called learning a foreign language."

Regarding his agent's question, which was nominally interrogative but actually declarative, Zhou Yi, lying back on the seat and comfortably twisting his waist, gave an answer that made him lose his composure.

Learning a foreign language, my ass!

Fine, say it in front of the media, but are you pretending in front of me now?

Qian Jiang helplessly shook his head: "The Elephant Group wants you to endorse chili paste. Their first reason given is that you can eat spicy food. They offered 500,000 USD per year; if you're willing to sign for three years, that's 1.6 million for three years."

"As for Nongshim's Shin Ramyun, they have relatively close ties with our country; for instance, the Nongshim Cup Go tournament is sponsored by them. The current endorsement contract offered is 600,000 USD per year; if you're willing to sign for three years, that's 2 million for three years."

For food products of this kind, endorsement fees never tend to be very high. Being able to offer Zhou Yi this price was already due to his status as an international superstar and his influence; otherwise, the settlement unit wouldn't be USD but RMB.

These prices made Zhou Yi, who was already accustomed to huge sums, somewhat unaccustomed for a moment.

But on second thought, at this current stage, the exchange rate between USD and RMB basically maintained around 1:8, so calculating it this way, it was actually okay.

It wouldn't be realistic to get a food-grade endorsement contract worth tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of USD.

"You handle the negotiations for these two; it doesn't matter if they fall through. But this mobile phone... isn't the price a bit too low?" Zhou Yi, whose focus remained on the mobile phone, frowned slightly.

"In the current international mobile phone market, your price is already in the high-spec tier. The highest spec is obviously something you can't touch right now."

Seeing that Zhou Yi seemed somewhat dissatisfied with this price, Qian Jiang explained for a while before teasing: "Of course, if you manage to sleep with that Samsung Princess later, I estimate your endorsement fee will definitely skyrocket."

"After all, she isn't some illegitimate daughter; she has a proper name. I saw you two chatted quite well the last two times, quite compatible."

Zhou Yi raised his middle finger at him: "Get lost."

His illegitimate girlfriend from the Elephant Group was throwing a party at a bar tonight, and Zhou Yi, having just deeply exchanged with her on exactly how the Korean language works, naturally wouldn't refuse the invitation.

And Li Yinxin, as one of her sisters, was also invited to attend.

……………………………………………

"Although I say that, I still can't stay long tonight. There's been a bit too much discussion about me recently; my parents ordered me not to return too late."

Seoul, inside a certain bar that had been booked out.

Facing the plastic sister's pleas to stay, the brightly dressed Li Yinxin put down her wine glass and shrugged: "You know they take reputation very seriously; at the very least, the surface work must be done properly."

"About Zhou Yi?"

"Not just that."

At this point, Li Yinxin chose to fall silent. While her sister went to welcome others, she sat alone at the bar drinking—

To be honest, last night she was once again scolded online for her Ferrari, and her mental state had completely collapsed; the anger inside her was about to explode, but she lacked the courage to defy her parents' wishes and lash out at others.

Whenever this happened, she would always think of Zhou Yi, who did whatever he wanted on the news.

It's so damn funny; an artist who relies on fans for a living even—

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got!

"Hey, hey, one by one, don't rush, autographs will all be given, ok?"

Suddenly, before Li Yinxin could snap out of her anger, a slightly frivolous voice immediately entered her ears.

Looking up along the sound, Zhou Yi, dressed in a suit and leather shoes, looking like a proper person, was surrounded layer upon layer by many people, holding a pen and writing happily—

"What? You want me to write on your underwear? Come on, I won't do that."

"On the strap? Then ok..."

The smile on his face was exactly what Li Yinxin hated most right now—because she didn't have one.

Only after Zhou Yi had dealt with the crowd seeking autographs did he turn his head to look at Li Yinxin, who had been watching his side all along, a smile playing on his lips: "So, having watched me for so long, do you want an autograph too?"

"What, do you perhaps want me to sign on your strap?"

The woman bent her elbow, leaning on the bar with one arm, smiled indifferently, and took a sip of wine while looking down: "If so, you can come and try."

"Sounds like your mood doesn't seem very good."

"I have you, Mr. Zhou, to thank for that. Thanks to you, my father now knows everything the newspapers are saying."

"Well, you're welcome."

Zhou Yi, who had just taken a martini from a passing bartender's tray and strolled to the bar counter to sit, swirled the glass gently and smiled, saying, "If you need any compensation, Miss Li, feel free to ask."

"What do you mean? You're going to compensate me?"

Li Yinxin put down her glass, sized him up from head to toe, and asked, "Did I hear that right?"

"You might be misunderstanding what compensation means. This is just humanitarian sympathy."

"Is that so..."

Li Yinxin set down her glass, rested her elbow on the marble bar counter, turned to look at him with a gradually playful gaze, then reached into her handbag and pulled out a simple business card: "If you truly have such intentions, how about coming to be my pet?"

"In that case, my mood would likely improve, and I could give my father a very good explanation."

"That sounds like a rather tempting offer."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as he too turned his head to look at her. Their gazes met, and a mocking curve appeared at the corner of his lips: "However, I think the reverse would be more appropriate."

Speaking thus, the man reached out and took the plain business card held between the woman's fingers, uncapped a pen, crossed out the name Li Yinxin on it, and casually wrote his own Chinese name—

He then handed it back to the woman, tilted his head slightly, and smiled while gazing at her: "How about you come be my pet?"

"..."

Without even glancing at the scribbled-over business card, Li Yinxin, after a moment of silence, chuckled softly twice: "Has anyone ever told you that you're actually quite boring?"

"What do you mean?" Pretending not to understand, Zhou Yi casually flicked the card away, propped his elbows on the bar counter, and stared ahead at the not-too-dense crowd, checking to see which unlucky soul might get hit.

"Wanting me to be your pet—have you even asked my father?"

"That's quite a statement. I have plenty of enemies; your father is just one more."

"Do you know, sometimes I really wonder where this inexplicable confidence of yours comes from? You scold seniors in your own country, you scold the hottest peers abroad, and you don't even care about the accusations from Korean netizens."

"Because I don't rely on them for my living."

Zhou Yi, who still hadn't seen any unlucky soul get hit before the card landed, shrugged: "So, what if everyone outside is my enemy?"

"Aren't you afraid of being crushed by your enemies?"

"There are countless people who want to be my enemies. Japan says it's Utada Hikaru, you Koreans say it's Lee Jung-hyun, and over in America they say it's Eminem. Everyone claims to be my enemy."

Zhou Yi spoke with disdain, while Li Yinxin, looking pitiful, clicked her tongue twice: "Everyone wants to make an enemy of you? You might as well just write a song begging for peace. Learn from me; staying silent saves you from a few more curses."

"How do you know I wrote one?"

Zhou Yi glanced sideways at her: "But learning from you, Miss Li, is unlikely. Your fate is too tough; you can't learn to bend."

"..."

Li Yinxin offered a polite smile: "I hope your fate is half as tough as your mouth, Mr. Zhou Yi."

"Likewise."

Zhou Yi stretched lazily, half-yawning: "By the time this song is released, you might just find out how tough I really am."

Meanwhile, Qian Jiang, who was organizing Zhou Yi's documents, carefully placed a demo disc labeled "Enemy" into an important file folder.

(End of this chapter)